Bahrain wants apology from Iran over Morsi speech translation

Published September 2nd, 2012 - 12:45 GMT

Manama demands apology from Tehran after the translation of Morsi's speech

Bahrain has demanded "explanations" from Tehran after the Iranian state television substituted the word "Syria" with "Bahrain" in the translation of the Egyptian president's speech during the recent Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran. The Egyptian leader slammed the Syrian regime, a close ally to Iran.

The head of the Iranian TV channel, Mr. Ezatollah Zarghami, acknowledged the facts Sunday citing an "error" of the translator, the Mehr news agency reported.

In a statement released Saturday night, the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it "officially protested to the Iranian charge d'affaires in Bahrain Mahdi Islami, following the falsification and distortion by Iranian state television of the speech by President Mohamed Morsi. "

"The official translators of the Iranian media have put the name of Bahrain instead of Syria during the remarks made by Egyptian President," the statement added.

"This is a true act of fraud and this is the latest example of the Iranian media interventions in the internal affairs of Bahrain," added the statement, which required "an apology from the Iranian government."

Mr. Morsi on Thursday denounced the "oppressive regime" in Syria at the opening of the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, sparking protests from the Syrian delegation whose members left the room.

The opening session of the summit was broadcast live on several Iranian media outlets.